The monitoring of radiation exposure of inanimate objects and individuals is an important function in a number of medical, research, and industrial situations, such as nuclear power generation. To this end, dosimeters that vividly display that an exposure event has occurred are important. For example, medical equipment and glassware are commonly sterilized by irradiation in the range of 15-25 kGy using alanine pellets and ceric-cerous solution as dosimeters. Typically, dosimeters change color in a very narrow color range, such as from yellow to orange or yellow to red and are, at times, inconsistent with the amount of color change they experience after radiation. To this end a dosimeter with a higher contrast between the unexposed and the exposed state is desired.